You are awesome

Congratulations on making it here. You’re a survivor. Not only did you survive childbirth, childhood and however many years you’ve lived since (an achievement that sadly most humans in history didn’t manage), but so did your parents, your grand-parents, and all your ancestors back to some single-celled organism swimming through ancient seas.

The odds of this happening are trillions to one against. It can’t have been mere coincidence or good fortune. It means that every member of your family was superbly adapted to their time and place.

Most of your ancestors looked rather different to you. Some were hairy, really hairy. Not just like great-uncle Frank, but actually furry. Some had scales. Some had very sharp teeth. Some hatched out of eggs or swam in the ocean. Most of them were microscopically small.

But all of your ancestors were good-looking and attractive to the opposite sex. Every single one of them mated and raised a child.

More than that, they were heroes, avoiding meteorite strikes, earthquakes, floods and catastrophic climate changes. So never take your life for granted. You are like them. You have inherited their good looks, their adaptability, and their potential to survive and prosper. You’re awesome, dude, you’re like superman!

Yes, thank you, I accept….though I hope you have no objection to my thinking “Superwoman” instead of “Superman.” Superperson would be most PC but that sounds, well, too…PC…BTW I have noticed that I do have a particular talent for avoiding meteor strikes, an inherited trait, I guess.

I might have millions of ancestors, but if I’m anything to go by, then luck has been the most significant reason why they survived long enough to produce progeny. Certainly good looks don’t come into it. My wife keeps reminding me of that.

Reblogged this on The End and commented:
Sharing this post from blogger Steve Morris, and English chap. We don’t always see eye-to-eye politically, but I enjoy his blend of philosophy and science. Consider the implications of this post: every single person on this planet right now is the most successful offspring of the most successful lineages of the human species. Wow. If that includes the Republicans in America, imagine the ones who didn’t make the cut! I suppose you might also find it quite uplifting, as I did.

Thanks to Steve for reblogging this thought-provoking post. Actually this is the sort of thing I think about all the time when in full rumination mode! We are all so lucky to be taking our turn on the planet.